Campgrounds and RV parks near Benton, KY

Kentucky Lake dominates the recreation menu. The reservoir covers about 160,000 acres with 2,380 miles of shoreline and is an outstanding fishery for largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie, bluegill, and catfish. Marinas at Jonathan Creek and along the western shore rent pontoons, fishing boats, and ski boats, and public ramps make it easy to launch a personal watercraft. Across the lake, Land Between the Lakes offers hiking, wildlife viewing, and family attractions including the Elk and Bison Prairie, the Woodlands Nature Station, and the Homeplace 1850s Working Farm. Wranglers Campground focuses on horseback riding and wagon driving, and Turkey Bay OHV Area provides designated OHV and primitive trails for OHV campers. In town, Benton has grocery stores, a hospital, and quick access to Paducah for provisioning, dining, and the National Quilt Museum.

Spring and fall are the most comfortable windows for RV travel in western Kentucky. Days are mild, humidity is lower, and the crowds at Kentucky Lake thin out on either side of the summer peak. Spring brings the year's heaviest rain, so plan for wet ground at unpaved sites. In shoulder seasons water may not be available at some campsites due to freezing risk, but hydrants installed throughout many campgrounds can be used to fill tanks. Summer is peak season on the lake. Weekends between Memorial Day and Labor Day fill quickly at the private parks and at LBL's developed campgrounds, and pool and marina operations run at full tilt. Book early for holiday weekends and the crappie-tournament calendar. Winter is quiet. Kentucky State Parks cannot guarantee the availability of water or other resources at campgrounds during inclement weather months when freezing temperatures are possible, so contact the park directly before traveling. Many LBL amenities close from December through February, though a few private parks remain open year-round.

Sites near the lake tend to be wooded, with mixed hardwoods and a fair number of pull-throughs at the larger private parks. Hookup configurations vary. At Kenlake State Resort Park, for example, sites have shared electrical hookups with adjacent sites: sites 5 and 6 share a hookup, 7 and 8 share a hookup, and so on. Water and electric service at many sites are several feet from the pad, so a longer hose and a heavy-duty extension cord are useful to bring. Inside LBL, the maximum stay is 21 nights during any 30 consecutive days, and campers must move off the recreation area on day 22. Cell coverage is decent in Benton and along US 68 but drops inside LBL. Bring insect repellent for ticks and chiggers, and do not move firewood in from outside Kentucky.